The whole thing was UGLY! I am not sure what it was he was trying to do, but it wasn't working for me at all, and that is one unhappy looking horse! 'Course I would be tooo if he was yanking on my mouth like that!

His hands are 'rough' and offer no release. He is simply yanking and jerking and riding the reins like a beginner.

The horse is not 'soft' and has not -- for 1 second -- given to the bit. But then, no horse would if ridden with those hands.

His horse is fighting the bit and showing great resistance throughout the entire clip.

His horse is wringing its tail and showing more resistance.

His 'spin' is horrible - a minus 1 to 1 1/2 on any judge's score card.

Not one time has this horse been brought into proper frame. That would require his jaw and neck to be soft andnot braced as it is. That would require his belly and top-line to be lifted instead of dropped and braced. That would require the horse bringing its hind end underneath it -- but it can't because of the bracing in its face, neck, shoulders and back.

This is not only poor reining and dressage technique but poor general horsemanship.

My problem is the fact that he is portraying this as correct and what you can get with his program. If that is what you get run run fare and fast.

If this was just some joe shmoo I would not have a big problem with it. Every rider goes through things like this. They try something and do not know any better. He is suppose to be a pro trainer and clinician showing how it should be done. That is my problem with him.

Cherie, I think that you could be right about the one factor that can cause failures in the home study courses: the fact that the student has no on-the-scene mentor. (to help with feel)

To compound the problem, (& I opened a thread on other forum to discover weak link) what with the phenom of wacko Levels graduates & PP "instructors," one could be hard pressed to find a decent PP mentor.

Re: PP's ride on Magic: not his best demo of his hms, but I must say, that's not his usual! You can find many vid's online of him doing a great demo, like of his bridleless & bareback ride of a white horse, going up hill & down dale over jumps.

Re: PP's ride on Magic: not his best demo of his hms, but I must say, that's not his usual! You can find many vid's online of him doing a great demo, like of his bridleless & bareback ride of a white horse, going up hill & down dale over jumps.

I watched that video. While it was not a bad ride it lacked the finess you have to have with a reiner and Dressage horse. I am not saying that was easy to do bareback and bridleless what I am saying is that with a bit of control it can be done. I can ride all my horses bridleless. It is not a hard thing to do with a well trained horse.

Also I will say this from personal experience. Take off the bridle or drop the reins and do a maneuver and you get out of the horses way and the horse will respond better to leg and seat. Take that bb and Bridleless ride and put a saddle and reins in his hands and I bet it would be back to yanking and pulling on the horse.

If he was all he clams to be he would be consistent in what he is doing. He is not. That speaks volumes to me at least. Go and watch riders like Shawn Flarida, Tim McQuay, and other top proven trainers. They are always consistent.

Before I say anything I would like to say that some of the things Pat does with his horses are amazing. Not to say that others don't do the same things, but videos of Pat riding bareback and halterless are much more available and accessible for the general public, therefore he receives more credit for doing it. I enjoy watching them. I don't use his methods.

Here is the thing with the Parelli program for me - it is marketed to predominantly beginners, the inexperienced or first time horse 'trainers'. Well of course it is, those with experience have their own tried and tested methods. While some people choose to incorporate some Parelli methods with other methods, they are not the 'norm'. The 'norm' is to progress through the levels with the exclusion of outside opinion or input.

The problem with the way the Parelli marketing is delivered, given it is sold as a program for 'anyone', is that in many ways, other training methods are strongly discouraged. This leads to a tunnel vision approach to training and is not the way to learn in any facet of life.

So, I can see that Pat himself is a good horseman (although it is unlikely he would be competitive in any dicipline by National standards) the way his training program has evolved is what attracts the criticism.

I have always said that if I thought a Parelli method would work better for me in a given circumstance, I would be open to trying it. I just haven't been in a circumstance yet where my own training methods (learned from many different horse people) haven't sufficed.

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